Data belonging to tens of thousands of patients was stolen in a cyberattack targeting an external service provider used by numerous hospitals in Germany, public broadcaster ARD reported Friday.
The University Hospital of Cologne alone said 30,000 people were affected. According to reports, the attack took place in mid-April. Since the breach targeted the external service provider rather than the hospital itself, clinical systems and patient care were not compromised at any point.
In the southern state of Baden-Wurttemberg, thieves stole data from more than 72,000 patients at the university hospitals of Freiburg, Ulm, Heidelberg, and Tubingen. The extent of the breach varied among the hospitals.